But, McCarthy persevered, and managed to snag a job at one of San Francisco’s hottest restaurants: Boulevard, whose kitchen was headed by nationally renowned chef Nancy Oakes.Īfter a year at Boulevard, McCarthy was again ready for a change, and headed to Las Vegas. In San Francisco, McCarthy found that jobs were scarce for a young Maryland chef just two years removed from culinary school.
“If it doesn’t fit in the back of a pick-up truck, it doesn’t go” was his rule for the trip. So, without a job, an apartment, or much else to his name, McCarthy set off for San Francisco. “I was young, and wanted to see what the big boys were doing,” says McCarthy. While McCarthy valued his time at Ivy Inn, after two years his passion for food inspired him to move on in search of big city dining. “He always demanded a lot out of people,” says McCarthy. Fortunately, in Vangelopoulos, McCarthy found an ideal mentor - a perfectionist with meticulous attention to detail. It was in Charlottesville that McCarthy would one day find his wife, his children, and his own restaurant.īut, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The choice to leave Maryland for a small city in central Virginia to which McCarthy had no connection would ultimately come to shape McCarthy’s life in ways he never could have expected. This, it would turn out, was a pivotal moment. His interview with owner Angelo Vangelopoulos went so well that McCarthy was off to Charlottesville. After graduating, McCarthy replied to an ad from a restaurant in Charlottesville, Virginia called Ivy Inn. So, culinary school it was, at Baltimore International Culinary College. McCarthy says he is forever grateful to his parents for enabling him to pursue his dream. His time in his Polish mother’s kitchen as a child was his early inspiration, helping her prepare classics like pierogies. In high school, McCarthy had begun washing dishes at a local pub, and soon worked his way up to food preparation. When graduation finally came, he could hardly believe that his parents expected him to attend more school.Ĭollege? The very thought of it seemed inconceivable. All through high school, he could not wait for it to end. Ho’s, the venerable dive in North Garden that serves not just the best pizza in the area, but much more.Ī career chef who grew up near Baltimore, McCarthy was never the studious type. McCarthy’s passion for honest, simple food is behind the continued success of Dr. “We just try to do everything the best we can.” “We don’t do a lot,” says chef/owner Michael McCarthy.
Ho’s Humble Pie deserves all of this praise. For it to be done by a 38-seat dive nine miles outside town would seem downright impossible. (434) 245-0000īest pizza in the Charlottesville area? Best cheese bread? Best wings? Best french fries? Best nachos? Best fried fish? Best strombolis?įor any one restaurant to merit all of these superlatives would be remarkable.
The cover shows a keyhole through which a woman can be seen sitting on a toilet.4916 Plank Road. The word Thunderbox is a seventeenth century slang word for the toilet, which gives an example of Humble Pie's sense of humour. Twelve songs appear, seven of them covers, including "Grooving With Jesus" originally released by The Violinaires Ann Peebles song " I Can't Stand the Rain" once referred to by John Lennon as the perfect single " Anna (Go to Him)" originally written and performed by Arthur Alexander and recorded by The Beatles on their first album and "Oh La-De-Da" by The Staple Singers. It reached number 52 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. Thunderbox is the seventh studio album by English hard rock group Humble Pie, released in 1974.
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